The spy agency was established by Israel's founder, first PM David Ben Gurion in 1948.
Mossad in its early days comprised of only a few dozen agents, but now the spy agency reportedly employs around 7,000 agents, which makes it one of the biggest espionage organisations of the world.
Mossad is the second-largest espionage agency in the Western world after the CIA.
The Mossad's motto is 'באין תחבולות יפול עם, ותשועה ברוב יועץ' which in English means "Where there is no guidance, a nation falls, but in an abundance of counsellors there is safety." It is from the Bible — Proverbs 11:14.
The head of Mossad is a very powerful person, and their selection is a big deal. The selection of a new Mossad chief as per Spyscape is a closely held secret known only to a few in the Israeli PM office, the agency, and the Civil Service Advisory Committee. The Israeli and the parliament aren't involved in the decision.
David 'Dadi' Barnea is the current Mossad chief. He is a veteran Mossad operative and took over from Joseph 'Yossi' Cohen in June 2021.
Mossad's annual budget is around 10 billion shekels (US $2.73 billion).
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